North Korea puts rocket units on 'highest alert,' issues new threats against US

It was announced that North Korea has now ordered rockets and long-range artillery units to be targeted towards U.S. military bases on Guam, Hawaii and the mainland. Analysts believe the threats are only to bolster the appearance of power for new leader Kim Jong Un.

By Alastair Jamieson, Staff writer, NBC News

North Korea stepped up its aggressive rhetoric on Tuesday, ordering its rocket and long-range artillery units to be combat ready and on the "highest alert" and issuing new threats against U.S. bases on Hawaii, Guam and mainland America.

Pyongyang warned that U.S. facilities would be "reduced to ashes and flames the moment the first attack is unleashed," according to a military order issued by the pariah state’s military "supreme command."

The U.S. and South Korea have signed a military agreement to combine forces in the event of an attack from North Korea. NBC's Jim Miklaszewski reports.

It comes in response to joint military drills by U.S. and South Korean forces which began in the area early this month and which have seen U.S. bombers flying sorties threatening the North.

South Korea's defense ministry said it saw no sign of imminent military action by North Korea Tuesday, according to Reuters.

"They need to stop threatening peace on the peninsula," Pentagon spokesman George Little told reporters on Tuesday of North Korea's latest threat. "That doesn't help anyone ... and we stand ready to respond to any contingency,''

He said Pyongyang's statements were designed to "raise tensions and intimidate others."

Rodong Sinmun via EPA

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspects an army landing exercise on Monday.

North Korea's neighbor and long-time communist ally again called on all parties to show restraint.

It came as South Korea marked the third anniversary of the sinking of one its navy vessels, blamed on North Korea, which left 46 sailors dead.

Pyongyang previously threatened nuclear attack on the United States and South Korea, although it is not believed to have the capability to hit the continental United States with an atomic weapon. However, Reuters reported that U.S. military bases in the Pacific area are in range of its medium-range missiles.

The isolated nation has threatened to attack American military bases in Japan and Guam in retaliation for the U.S. conducting military exercises with South Korea. On Wednesday, major South Korean banks and media companies were hacked.

The military statement, also posted on the KCNA website, said: "From this moment the… supreme command will put on the highest alert all the field artillery units including strategic rocket units and long-range artillery units which are assigned to strike bases of the U.S. imperialist aggressor troops in the U.S. mainland and on Hawaii and Guam and other operational zone in the Pacific as well as all the enemy targets in south Korea and its vicinity."